


Redemption or a Sack of Coal

by Shwindu



Category: Hiveswap, Homestuck
Genre: A lil bit of swearing, Angst, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, Christmas Special, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Gen, Ghosts, Hurt/Comfort, Jerkish Zebruh, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Substance Abuse, Time Shenanigans, Typing Quirks, sort of...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2019-10-17 14:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17562209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shwindu/pseuds/Shwindu
Summary: "i wu~uld like tu~ knu~w what yu~u may knu~w abu~ut the tru~ll zebruh cu~dakk"---We all know that Zebruh isn't the best troll.But, what would happen if a few trolls were tasked to strike some sense into him? Would it change anything?On Perigee's Eve, we will find this out.





	1. ??????: Sell your goods in preparation for Christmas Eve

**Author's Note:**

> A late Christmas Special finally transfered to ao3!

.

.

.

First off, you don't even know what a Christmas Eve is. Is it some sort of angel ritual? Absolutely messed up is what it sounds like.

Second off, your name is RAHIFF CAPUTO so no need to go off with those annoying surprise noodles.

 

Go on, try again. You have time. Might as well do things right since this fanfic won't ever be canon.

...Wait what?

** >Rahiff: Sell your goods in preparation for Perigees Eve.**

That's better.

Tonight is the night of PERIGEES EVE, and you have been absolutely DROWNING IN CUSTOMERS.

Yup, that's exactly what's been happening. No you haven't been sitting and staring at your palmhusk for however long it's BEEN. That's exactly the _opposite_  of what you've been doing.

.

.

.

Okay maybe you've been a tinsy bit out of sales for the majority of the night. But what else are you supposed to expect from a BURGUNDY BLOOD?

"thu~se cant be guu~d pru~ducts" Blah.  
"that bu~uy must be trying to scam us" Bleh.  
"such an unpru~fessiu~nal salestru~ll. hell never make a guu~d sale in his life" Bluh.

As if you didn't already have low self confidence from the beginning, this fiasco isn't helping at all.

And now, just as you're about prepared to flip your shit and pack everything up, an indigo blood approaches you. He has a certain swagger in his step that makes you feel uneasy, but then again when doesn't a blueblood make you uneasy? It's a constant struggle, wondering if they're going to cull you for just standing there or if they're merely coming to ask you to move out of the way.

Wow you're more ranty than usual today. You berate yourself mentally and try to look as normal as you can for the approaching indigo.

"Well hello there," Oookay what is with that tone? "<> Are you doing okay there? <>"

"huh?! u~h yeah! im fine. im du~ing great! ha ha..." You say sorta panicked, while trying to seem nonchalant you actually accomplish the opposite. Curse your low charisma level!

The highblood doesn't seem to react to your weirdness, which just makes you more suspicious. You really should try to be more chill.

Seriously.

"Well that's good. That's good. My name is Zebruh Codakk, " he states for the record, but says nothing else. And he doesn't leave either. You can't hold back a sigh, not that you try all that hard. You are beyond salvation at this point. You begin bringing out your boxes where you stored your items and start putting away all the soft things into the bottom of the first one.

"So, <3 do you have any plans for tonight? <3" Him talking again makes you jump, and you swear you see him smirk a bit in your peripheral vision. Completely normal for an indigo blood though so you ignore it and continue with your boxing. 

"uh, nu~. nu~t really. " You answer shortly stacking your more fragile objects on top of the fabrics, like mostly intact vases and cds. He seems pleased by your answer. Well fuck.

"Perfect! How would you like to go with me somewhere? <3< I already thought that you weren't going to be doing anything special tonight though <3< so how about it?" he says and you can just feel how this could go wrong. You don't think you'd be culling material, but yet again when trolls are bored anyone would do.

So this just means that you'll have to let him down easy. You already got a matesprit. You already got a matesprit. You already got a matesprit....  
 

"heh actually i just remembered... my lusus needs feeding aru~und this time. yu~u knu~w hu~w it is." Dangit!

Well, it's not that bad, you can deal with this excuse! You swiftly pick up your rather heavy boxes of junk and edge around him. "suuu~, bye!"

You run as if your life depends on it with the boxes pressed to your chest.

** >Rahiff: Go back an apologize to that troll  
**

No way in a bazillion sweeps. He gave you vibes man. Vibes that only come from bad news. Which is why you're going to talk with someone who may give you some info, someone who isn't a highblood with possibly malicious intent. And, who you may possibly make a deal with. A rather handsome deal depending on how things go.

You step into your hive which is all that you'd expect from a rusty's hive. Small, secluded and sophisticate- no you're kidding it's unsophisticated as all hell. You don't even have a TV to watch your cds on (which is why you're selling them), the most boring of boring hives. It is yours.

You stroll into your respiteblock and plopp onto your splaysac. You then remember that you have to light some CANDLES for the process to go smoothly, and groan.

What process someone else may ask? Well I'll tell you in a minute now sshhghh and read.

Anyway, you take way too long in getting off your butt and grab your candles off a shelf on the other side of the room by your 'coon. Then you very dramatically put them around your splaysac, like the drama queen you are. You then *just* as dramatically light the candles and descend onto the splaysac yet again.

"there. is that all?" You mumble to yourself counting everything over again. Once your paranoia is sated, you relax a bit.

The lighting _of_ the matches don't reach Broadway levels of inspiring, high school play level at best, but the lighting itself afterwards is just phenomenal. A++.

Of course it only is until the voices come crawling into your skull like prowling ants ready to sting someone for a bite of your sandwich flavored brain. You wince...

Oh wait, I may have forgotten to say one more thing, my apologies.

You see, Rahiff has the ability to CONVERSE WITH THE DECEASED. But not any normal deceased spirit you see. He specializes in...

"==> oooooohhhhh @my god rahi @i hate @yooooouuuu," the first voice that breaks the silence is so whiny that you almost squash the candle fires.

But you have incredible self-restraint and manage to wait until the faded image of a troll appears in front of you. It is a face you have seen many times, from the roundness of her face to the angularity of her horns and anonymity of her blood color.

The other two spirits you are expecting come at a slower pace, unlike the many insignificant dead trolls that hound you whenever you start a session, these three are much more interesting acquaintances and because they know this they usually take their sweet time.

Assholes.

The second one to come you are just as familiar with, yet he has a lot of differences compared to the first one. Where she is round faced, he is all angular, where her horns are pointy to the chance of murder, his are smooth and sleek.

"<== 'Eck, can you not 'ound 'im the moment the moment we are summoned? 'Ave çme civility geez," the more sensible ghost scolds in his weird accent, wacking the girl's arm. She pouts drifting to your other side as if using you as a shield.

The third ghost that arrives has an air of professional strictness to him that disallows any points of humor to his personality. If the power of civility takes away all sense of jokes and witty fun times, then you would maybe actually take it. You have a full running pros and cons list on it. Just to have people actually respect you, that's all you'd want.

"=>> Caputo. Why have you brought us here. IF it was For another prank I must order you to stop this nonsense. It has run long enough." He says, his long hair almost touching the floor from ages of growing and his horns the largeness only an adult like him could achieve.

A few sweeps ago, you would've been peeing your pants at seeing an adult. Now you just sigh and wave a hand tiredly, having accustomed to this adult in particular. All others would still scare you shitless. Then you put on your 'serious business' face, which isn't all that different from your neutral face.  
 

"i wu~uld like tu~ knu~w what yu~u may knu~w abu~ut the tru~ll zebruh cu~dakk"


	2. >Zebruh: Explain Yourself.

Now, you don't see why that is a thing that you have to do. You were simply going to approach that rusty- you mean that nice looking troll and talk to him. Maybe go to a concert, or maybe just stay at home with him. Nice friendship activities that might turn into something more, completely understandable and undeserving of scrutiny.

But then he just ran off, a very rude action in your book. Just left you alone by his stall.

...

Welp, you guess you'll just go back home. And go to sleep. It is almost sunrise after all.

 **== >** 

 _hello~... hellooooo~... zebruuuhh~~~_  


_WAKE UP~~~_

 

You wake up with a start and hit your head against... something. You quickly cover your forehead in anticipation for pain to ring out but... it doesn't? You are so confused by the phantom pain that you don't even notice the blank eyes staring at you until you hear a cough.

Jolting you tense and your hands turn to fists in seconds. You don't have fistkind but you have enough confidence in your punch that you can run to your lusus in time.

What you see though is about as far from what you were expecting to see as it can go, and your fists loosen involuntarily in your confusion x2.  
  


There's both a female and male troll in your room. The girl is floating a few feet away from your face with a mixed look of bewilderment and amusement.

The boy is staring at the girl from his seat on the floor, and his exasperated expression is so colorful that you manage to read "Oh my God why did you do that I really shouldn't have come" fluently off his face. 

Aside from the floating and the fact that *THEY'RE IN YOUR ROOM*, you get hung on the fact that both their eyes are pure white. No yellow sclera or black pupil. Just...white. It's really creepy.

All of you just sit (or float in the weirdo's case) around in silence for what you swear is a minute, you because you are still trying to piece together what the fuck is happening and the other two because who knows why.

You're about to just flip out of your coon into a graceful barrel roll and run when the girl clicks her tongue shaking her head.  


"==> oooo kay. not much of a talker @i see," she says floating back a bit to her... friend? You're going with that for now. Also she just seems to be ignoring the fact that SHE in fact is the trespasser, not you and that she should be explaining herself.  


"==> hello @i'm the moderner," she introduces herself bowing shortly, and then pointing at the guy. "==> and that dumbo is the nçtalgic. and this is an intervention."

That catches your attention immediately and you will yourself into saying the first words this day since you asked one of your guests to work harder in cleaning the floor, they have the privilege of staying here after all and shouldn't slack off.  


"Intervention? What are you talking about?" You ask, warily climbing out of the coon to feel a little more in control of the situation and not just like a wriggler. Both trolls look really unimpressed with your questions.  
 

"==> so like, bt dubs, @i'm the nicest one here. but @you're nasty. sups gross @ya know? @you have to know this by now." She says slowly, as if dealing with a vicious hoofbeast. She doesn't even know you, what is she talking about?

Is this a dream? It'd be a logical reason behind this at least.

  
"No I really don't know. I don't need two random trolls going into my hive and disturbing me in the middle of the day. <3< I don't see what help you two could do anyway. <3<. With whatever you're trying to help with. " You say, the last of the drowse slipping away from you as the last of the sopor that was clinging to you and your dayclothes falls to the floor. But even with the fog cleared from your head this situation isn't getting any clearer. 

"==> no see that's exactly what @i'm talking about!" Moderner shouts perhaps a bit too loud and plants her fists on her hips. You wince at her volume and she looks apologetic for a second before regaining her stern posture. She does talk quieter though. "==> creeeeeeeeepy."

"I still don't get what you're talking about." You say adamantly, you start to sense a headache starting to materialize which is a sure hint that they better get to the point and leave you alone. No troll should be up this late. Not a single one. The fact that you aren't being as hospitable to them as you usually would is exactly the reason why you need more sleep.  


The Moderner huffs out loudly scuffing her feet on the floor.  


"==> that... that tone @you had!!! @i... no fuck this nçtalgic @i'm tagging @you in @i can't do this right now." the troll then says and saunters over to where the other troll has just been watching silently from. He doesn't even get the chance to get up on his own, he's hauled up on his feet before either of you can blink and the the Moderner plops herself down on the floor with her arms crossed like a grub throwing a tantrum.

The Nçtalgic looks from you to her a few times with a look that tells how done he is with the situation.  


"<== 'ang on," he then tells you turning to the Moderner holding up a finger as more indication for you to wait. You comply.

"<== Okay ç I'm guessing the faster we get this done the çoner we can leave?" he asks and earns a nod from her.

"<== Alright ç listen up," he turns back to you, with the posture of someone ready to initiate a schoolfeeding.

"<== I know your whole 'thing' is to flirt with any troll you see. And, in as few words as pçsible, that is a very creepy thing to do." You notice, that both these trolls have a tendency to hold a monologue for a while instead of stopping and letting you talk as well.

"<== You don't even çldier on with a single quadrant like 'ecking normal trolls, you switch between them depending on the circumstance! Do you actually believe çmeone will get into a quadrant with you because of your 'charms'?" The Nçtalgic also doesn't seem like a person to hold back when insulting someone else.  


"==> ooooohhhhh buuuurrnn! bite into @his pride nostal @you go brah!" Moderner shouts from her position on the floor. She even howlbeast whistles. Nçtalgic doesn't pay her any mind like he's gotten used to her behavior several wipes ago. Instead he's probably waiting for your response. You clear your throat looking away for a second. Is this stalling? Nope. The answer is that it isn't. Absolutely not. It can't be.  


"Finding a quadrant mate is a right to all trolls. I don't see how me giving someone multiple options would be 'disgusting'." You start off. "c3< And you're making it sound like I treat potential quadrant mates badly, that is far from the truth. c3<"  


Nçtalgic let's our a sound which is either a growl or a groan of annoyance. Possibly both, that's always an option. He also quite possibly has a shorter fuse than the Moderner which is impressing in and of itself.

You cut off this train if thought in favor of a new one, and remember something which you probably should have asked from the moment you saw them.  


"What the hell are you two? Ghosts?" You ask approaching the two. You move to poke Nçtalgic but he dodges baring his teeth to you. "c3< Hey calm down I was just asking a question! c3<"

This isn't the right thing to say.  


"<== OKAY LISTEN YOU 'ERE YOU LITTLE-"

Everything seems to be happening at once.

Until.

It isn't.

Nçtalgic was approaching you, preparing to dive right into a long winded rant.

The Moderner had popped up from her seat and was rushing to calm him down. 

You were backing away from him even though you're pretty sure by now that a ghost can't punch you and do lasting damage. Not physically at least.

And then...

Everything just seems to stop. 

The air stills and it feels like your ears become plugged. 

And the most noticeable thing, you can't move. Your gaze is locked on the other two, and at least they seem to be stuck as well.

Fortunately, this moment only lasts for a few seconds (did seconds even pass? It felt like time actually broke) and you stumble onto the ground before you even need to breath again.

The other two deal with it better, regaining their balance before they fall, but they both bear a shocked expression.  


"=>> It seems that I have been Forced to intervene."

"==> oh shit."

"<== Oh shit." 

 ** >Zebruh: Fulfill the prophecy.**  


"Oh shit."

"=>> Can we not start this tomFoolery." There's an adult in your room.

 

Oh God.

He sighs as you're too busy being frozen in place in fear.  


"=>> Moderner. The time please." He turns away from you looking at the girl. She nods shortly, her attitude completely having changed from "startled" to "calm and concentrated". It's crazy.  


Then he turns back to you and just stares. The absence of pupils don't entirely make up for the black and roughness of his skin and the absolute size of his horns. It's so unnerving, and the back of your mind won't badgering at you to MOVE and HIDE.  


"=>> You couldn't take care oF this on your own. I had to be dragged in. OF course I had Foreseen this outcome." the adult says, and what he says is phrased like a question but lacking all the intonations it is merely a statement.

"<== Oh come on you 'ave to 'ave noticed 'ow stubborn he is!" Nçtalgic exclaims in the silence of the Moderner. From a quick glance you see that said troll has her eyes closed and her hands are clasped tightly together, you'd wonder what she was doing if you had the capability to be more chill around the adult.

"=>> That normally should not have been a justiFication. But I will let it be this time." The adult (which you still don't know the title of yet) says backhandedly looking you over. "=>> Now. You."  


You gulp.  


"=>> Moderner. Are you done. " He ask/states and you almost sigh in relief. Almost. It could just be delaying the inevitable. 

Moderner let's out a tired sigh after a few seconds, her hands untangle and fall at her sides.

 

"==> yeah. but there are so many people that @it won't last for that long," she says, and you are once again proved to be outside of the loop. The adult seems to notice your confusion. 

"=>> How much have you inFormed him about this." Instead of getting a reply, Nçtalgic and Moderner look at each other sheepishly.

"==> not... a lot..?"  


A sigh and a palm to the face. This is possibly the most emotion adult man's shown thus far.  


"=>> I apologize For these two."...What.  "=>> They have a tendency to plunge into their schemes without clariFying anything to anyone else."

.

.

Okay.  


Adult troll continues when you don't respond.  


"=>> You may call me the Jeremiah. I am guessing those two haven't mentioned me before." A *look* at the duo and then he continues. "=>> We are here by cause oF an anonymous request. And are going to show you a Few things. AFterwards you are to choose how you continue."

As if on cue the three ghosts huddle together into a crescent shape in front of you, each holding each other's hands. 

Everything around you becomes blurry until you can't make make out more than any colors. Then you feel the world shifting and you fall down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OwO? Ghost intervention? Fainting? An adult? What an interesting turn of events!
> 
> If you enjoy this please do comment down below! Comments mean a lot to writers, and I wouldn't be an exception :3 And if you have any advice then do put it down there too!


	3. ==>

You wake up. And it's cold.

Very cold.   
  


You try and leap up onto your feet but end up just flailing in...something. It feels like sopor, but more powdery.

...

Oh fuck this. You're in the snow.

 

You roll onto your stomach and get into a kneel on your knees. It's pretty easy to get up from that. Only downside is is that you're now drenched.

 

You hear a muffled giggle from behind you and look behind you, to see the Moderner in a crouch on the floor her shoulders shaking with laughter. When she sees that you've noticed her she just let's it out and falls onto her knees bellowing with high pitched wheezing laughter. She's clutching her stomach and you swear you see the beginning of tears in her eyes.

God it couldn't have been that funny.

 

You roll your eyes and look down at yourself trying to ignore her. You're covered in snow but other than that, you're wearing your usual vest and tie. You start brushing the snow away inspecting your new attire.

Strange... You were wearing your coon clothes before now.

 

Then you actually think to examine your surroundings; that's survival 101 you should've woken up and done this. 

You appear to be on an abandoned neighborhood street. There are a few hives in the distance but this place is mainly road and leafless frond nubs.  
  


"=>> You're Finally conscious again."  
  


You jump spinning around on your heel, subconsciously bringing your arms up in defence. It feels like the Jeremiah's blank eyes are drilling into you and you don't know how much more of this you can take before you lose your pan.  
 

"=>> We're in a Flashback." he answers your unspoken question. "=>> The scene will start soon. So be heedFul."  
  


You nod shortly, just as he walks away again. You wait a bit but that seems like that was the only thing he wanted to say. You decide to approach Moderner, having nothing better to do. You're happy to notice the slight swagger in your step. You've recovered considerably from that rude awakening it seems.  
  


"Hey, <> how're you doing? <>" You ask as you approach smirking a bit. "<3< You took quite the tumble there <3<."  
  


She snerks raising an eyebrow at you.  
 

"==> @we're in a memory right now. @i can't do any considerable harm to @you. what do @you think could stop @me from decking @you right now?" She asks getting up onto her feet, absentmindedly brushing away the snow from her clothes. You take a small step from her. 

"<3 Feisty <3."  
  


She takes a step toward you brandishing her fist.  
  


"<== Oooookay! Calm!" Nçtalgic seems to pop up out of nowhere standing between you and the Moderner facing her. You aren't sure what he's doing but it seems like he's trying to obscure you from her vision.

"<== We can 'it the road!" He shouts, probably to the Jeremiah, still facing the Moderner.

"=>> Have you made all the preparations." God is he unable to voice questions? Is it an actual disability he has? It would be getting on your nerves if you weren't terrified of him.

"<== I 'ave been ready for a while now! I 'ave just been waiting for this bimbo to wake up!"

"Hey!"

"<== Alright 'ere we go."  
  


The Nçtalgic snaps his fingers. And you immediately feel trapped. It's as if your feet become glued to the floor. The light dims out to give the impression that it's midnight and the air that was previously still, starts breezing by. You'd shiver but you don't seem to be able to feel cold anymore. It's like you're just a spectator now with no corporeal body.

You're about to ask what's going on, but two trolls approach. You feel as though you recognize one of them and it nags at you in the back of your mind. But the other is completely unfamiliar.  
  


"arE yoU reallY goinG tO dO thiS? It Doesnt Seem Like A Good Idea." The one you don't know asks the other, he's a cerulean with two stocky kind of horns and baggy black clothes with the customary cobalt symbol on the front. Nothing that unusual about him. 

"do 1 even have a choice? 1t'5 not like 1 have my own h1ve anymore." The other laughs bitterly, her shoulder length lion mane looking hair bobbing up and down and her red scarf waving in the breeze. "1t can't be any wor5e than gett1ng culled r1ght?"

"hoW dO yoU knoW yoU wonT geT culleD?" He asks challengingly and gets shoved in the shoulder with a mittened hand for his concern.

"1'm tough!" She replies justifyingly, flexing her arms. With her thick jacket on it gives the illusion of muscles but from the unimpressed look on the trolls face you bet this is just an attempt to lighten the mood.  
  


He walks over to her and picks her up. Just straight off the ground and hauls her over his shoulder. She yelps, but then starts laughing banging her fists against his back.

 

The scene stops.

 

And then it fasts forwards. It goes by in a blur.

 

When it slows down again, you see the same troll from earlier, but he's alone.

He's pacing back and forth on the street clutching a palm husk in his hand staring down at the screen.  
  


"What Do You Mean You Wont Be Coming Back?!" He shouts throwing his unoccupied hand up into the air, his face extremely tense and distraught.

"1'm 5orry." A quieter voice speaks up, it's coming from the palm husk. You have to sort of strain to make out the words. But you recognize it.

It's the same voice the girl had.

"1 have to 5tay here. 1f 1 ever get the chance 1'll come d1rectly to you." the girl continues in a bittersweet manner. "1 prom15e."

"whaT?! Tathie! waiT!" There's a sound of the call ending, and then it's just quiet.  
 

It all stops with the troll sitting carefully on the wet ground, staring into space.

You shake your head, as if snapping out of a daze and look around.

Your feet aren't 'stuck' to the ground anymore so you turn around. Nçtalgic, Moderner and Jeremiah are all clustered in a group far enough from you so that you can hear that they're whispering but not what about. You walk over to them. When you come near Jeremiah turns toward you.  
  


"=>> That was our First vision. We will continue onto the other one shortly." He explains and then turns back to the group.   
...Okay.  
  
You stand there but they don't acknowledge you.  
  


Have you been shut out of the ghost group?

It seems that yes. Yes you have.


	4. >Zebruh: Do something productive.

You fail to do anything productive.

For the next 10 minutes (you think it's been ten minutes. You don't have time powers like _some people_ so you wouldn't know) you try and explore the area. You don't discover anything besides that however long you walk, you don't make any progress in getting closer to the hives in the distance and that the snow here is not of building quality.  
  


There isn't even anyone here that you can talk to that isn't already in their own weird ghost club, you just walk around aimlessly like a weirdo.

Well, apparently you have been a weirdo for a while now according to the trio so this maybe isn't a surprising development.

This is NOT something you've been thinking about pretty much the entire time though, why would you do something like that? You're not self conscious about this, no siree!  
  


"==> hey. are @you thinking over @your life choices yet?" Moderner approaches you, asking in a sing-song sort of voice.

"What life choices would that be?" You ask in a deadpan, her voice is becoming more and more grating to your ears the longer you're exposed to it, god she's annoying.

"==> oh ha ha. @we're almost done so don't worry @your ugly butt @we'll be out of @your greasy hair soon." she tells you putting her arms behind her back and leaning back on her heels.

"<3<... <3<" You spare her a glance and you watch in amusement as she blushes slightly (in no particular color, just a darker gray to your slight disappointment) and she breaths out through her nose like a hoofbeast, striding away from you quickly.  
  


In her place, the Jeremiah approaches you.

Your back straightens a bit, yeah you'll never be relaxed around him no matter how peaceful the Jeremiah acts.  
  


"=>> The second vision will begin now. Come." And with that he walks off back to the group. You follow him without another thought.  
  


He stands in between Moderner and Nçtalgic, in a similar crescent shape as they had before when they transported you to this place.

Look how far you've come! You aren't even questioning anything anymore. You just accept that everything going on here is crazy and move on.  
  


"=>> These next two visions will occur one aFter the other. There will not be any pauses." The Jeremiah explains, with all his attention on you you barely catch what he's saying but you get the gist of it. "When we are done you will automatically wake up. We will have leFt. And you will decide what you will want to do From then on."

"==> are @you reeeeady?" The Moderner asks you. You feel like there's some sort of joke prepared.

  
"Ye-"

"here @we go!"  
  


You knew it. 

The Moderner claps her hands and swirls her finger in a circle. You're confused over the meaning behind this until you are physically turned around by an invisible force. You are placed to be with your back to the three, which you don't like in the least. But you can't move because your feet feel like they're stuck to the floor yet again. How fun.  
  
It's barely another second and everything in your peripheral vision begins to blur and darken. It's like a screen appears in front of you and it becomes the only thing that stays in focus. Said screen is dark and blank for several seconds, that is until it turns on with a *plink*.

The first thing you see is... Your house? The lighting around is much lighter than it would be during the night so you're guessing it's sometime during the day. The camera seems to maneuver closer to the house in smooth motions, like a ghost going on a walk (or a fly in it's case).

The metaphor of a ghost is further brought through by the point that it transitions perfectly through the wall. The entire house is dark in contrast to the outside, everyone is asleep it seems like. 

The ghost camera flickers by the rooms quickly, as if switching channels to find something interesting to watch. It cycles through the meal block, rumpusblock and stockblock with minimal interest.

It starts floating around again though when it gets to the second floor, where all the respiteblocks reside.

 

The first block, your lusus is sleeping on his carpet. The camera moves on quickly into the hall again.

The second block, a cleansingsblock. Nothing interesting in there either aside from the ablution trap or the wide range of cleaning supplies.  
 

The third... your respiteblock?

It takes a second for you, but you notice something in the recooperacoo- wait is that you? That's..weird.  The camera lingers in your block, subtly looking around. But eventually it moves on back to the corridor and to the next block.

 

It's another cleansingsblock, but it's smaller and it only has a shower. The shampoo and conditioner collection is very small as well. You start to feel uneasy by how closely the camera is starting to examine these rooms compared to the ones before.

Fifth block. The camera stays by the door for a few seconds. It's an okay door, you don't get why it's doing that. Sure the paint is sort of faded in some places and maybe a bit rusty on the handle but it's fine. Just a door.

(You try to ignore the thought that you're thinking this to convince yourself as well and not just the imaginery camera man.)  
  


It fades through and you withhold the the urge to wince.

This is the room where all your guests stay when they're... not doing their own thing.  
 

You, being a caring member of the LBMG (low-bloods matter group) have taken in many lowbloods for your care. Of course you wouldn't have enough coons for all of them so they all sleep on the floor. But they've never complained to you about it, and your lusus hasn't reported anything of the sort either.

Many of them are sleeping in clusters, some merely just lying back to back and others... literally sprawled on each other. Many are holding hands with varying degrees of tightness. 

The camera floats over each of the groups, it seems to be searching for someone in particular. Then it stops over a particular troll, who surprisingly isn't tangled with one of the other groups.  
  


It takes a moment, but you almost gape when you recognize her. It's the same burgundy from the last vision.

You're stunned to say the least. But the more you think about the conversation those two trolls were having, the more it's making sense to you. An unwanted feeling of dread fills your gut.  
  


You didn't even know her all that well when you brought her in. It wasn't all that long of a conversation.

You vaguely remember her insisting that she was fine, but you hadn't let it go.  
 

Oh fuck.  
 

You snap out of your thoughts to see that the screen has gone black yet again. Everything around you is less blurry, but it isn't all that clear either. Yet a sort of buzzing surrounds you that you know isn't coming from the screen.

You hear whispers coming from behind you, and you manage to hear some of the words through a lot of strain.  
  


"==> ...@we let...be?" 

"<==... should we? 'E doesn't...deserve......Let's get...done."

"=>> He... done processing... now... I... start."  
  


And with that your attention is brought back to the screen. Everything blurs out yet again and if those three continue to talk you can't hear at all.

The next vision starts.  
 

And the first thing you see is someone's hive. Probably teal or higher from the neighborhood it's in and just how it looks.

You wait for the camera to move in closer but it just stays where it is. Unmoving. This is terrible cinematography, you think as you start to get antsy at just looking at the same hive for a while. You almost sigh in relief when a figure exits it.

Surprise surprise it's the cerulean. You're starting to see a connection here.

The troll is quite a bit older from last time you saw him, at least two sweeps would be your guess. And he looks a lot more worn down the closer he walks to the camera's direction. There's dark cerulean bags under his eyes and he looks like he puts less effort into his clothes and hair than the average troll (which is saying something).

When he surpasses the camera, it moves and starts following him. It's like a documentary.  
  


"of course i have to go out and buy things on her day, " he mumbles to himself. "the fucking hungertrunk had to run out it just had to."  
 

Oof jeez. He's really in a bad shape. You sort of feel bad.  

He arrives to the shopping center and starts to head inside. But... The camera doesn't follow. You just watch as he closes the door behind him and nothing more but the outside of the store.

Whoever made this movie or whatever this is is horrible. 

You swear you hear the echo of the Moderner's witch cackle. It seems exactly like the kind of audio that would be going on for this moment.

.

.

.

After what seems like an eternity, the guy finally exists the store, two bags of groceries in hand. Incredibly bad cinematography, you repeat in your head just wanting to get done with this.

The camera starts following him again.

And if this story were taking place on earth I would describe it as a puppy obediently following it's owner. But this story takes place on Alternia, a land of no pets, so I will not describe it in this way. It is simply a camera ghost. 

You don't get a lot of information from the cerulean, but you do get a glance at the contents of the shopping bag. It seems like at least a third of the bags' contents are chips, possibly more. Yeesh.  
 

Following the guy back to his hive is pretty dull, he's stopped muttering and is just trudging along in silence.

Even rain could make this scene more interesting and rain is possibly the most uninteresting thing on Alternia.  
 

Fortunately, your call of boredom seems to have awakened fate's creativity and brought upon an innocent bystander into the picture.

The troll is a bronze blood and they accidentally bump into him. You cringe anticipating the cerulean's reaction.  
  


It's like a switch is flipped in the cerulean's head, and in a second he's changed from "walking glumly and exhaustedly back home from the store" to "WHAT THE FUCK JUST TOUCHED ME GRRR".

That grr isn't even just for comedic effect, he literally growls and lashes out at the troll like a rampaging lusus, dropping one of the bags in the process. The troll runs off quickly, apologizing profusely as they sprint off.

With that tension still in the air, the trip back is even more uncomfortable, and you're not even there with him. You usually don't feel second hand embarrassment or anything off of others, but gosh if it isn't potent now.  
 

When his hive comes into view, you wonder sarcastically if you're going to have to watch the house from the outside again instead of getting to see the interior decoration. Yet luckily the camera doesn't stop moving when the cerulean opens the door.   
  


The house represents exactly how the cerulean looks, which means that it's very messy and it doesn't seem like he had put any effort into how anything looks. You even see glass shards littering the floor down the hallway, under an empty frame so you don't think that outburst from earlier was a one-time thing.

Angery (You're calling him that now) dumps the groceries in the meal block, without a care over the condition of the items inside, and rushes down the hall, pretty much breaking a door off it's hinges and rushing into the then open room. It's the first time you've seen him actually putting effort into something this entire scene.

The camera quickly follows, but stays by the doorway peeking in, not at all like a canine or barkbeast nope.

Angery sits on the floor in the room that is empty except for the many shelves on the walls and the trash can in the corner. The shelves are all stocked with tagless, plastic bags. He almost desperately opens up one such plastic bag. It rips open, and something green falls to the carpeted floor.  
  


Oh.

_That's sopor._  
 

Angery swallows the contents of the small pack down with his head tilted back as if taking a shot. His hands, which were starting to shake by that point, slowly stop and his breathing smooths out. You see his face shift from calm, to grief, and he slowly crumples into himself hiccuping quietly on the floor.  
  


And with that final vision the screen darkens yet again and everything comes into focus. When you blink, the screen is gone.

You turn around, the trio is gone as well.

 

You look down at your hands, for no other reason than just instinct. 

Your hands are gone as well.

 

**== >**

 

You wake up with a start and tumble all your way out of the recooperacoon with a *thud*.  
 

Most times when you wake up from a nightmare, you don't remember much besides that it was awful.

This is not one of those times.  
 

You remember every single detail of what happened with such stark clarity you'd think it just happened in real life.

You shudder as guilt overwhelms you on the floor. You guess if this was what the ghosts goal was then they succeeded. 

.

.

.

You get up shakily and trudge to your desk and bring out two papers and a bottle of indigo ink. You don't know if you can make things better, but this can be a start.

 

**== >**

 

_Hello [redacted],_

_This is a letter of immense importance._

_I advise you to go to [redacted] in [redacted] at about [redacted] the day you get this._

_This is not a prank,_

_Zebruh Codakk_

 

**== >**

 

_Hello Tathil,_

_This is a notice for you to know that you will have a blueblood expecting you at [redacted] in [redacted] at about [redacted] today._

_Do not miss it,_

_Zebruh Codakk_


	5. Tathil: Arrive

Your name is TATHIL BUDXAY and you are extremely confused. Your handler usually doesn't interact with any of you, much less write a notice telling you you have an hour or less to meet someone you presumably don't know.

Unless he was threatened...

Oh God what if you're being sold? You don't know if having a different handler would be good news or bad.  
  


"TATHIe?!" Ohmygod.  
 

Your head shoots up as recognition flashes on your face. It's been so long.  
  


"za61re? ZA6!"  
  


He knocks into you before you even begin running, and therefore tackles you before you can stand your ground.

Red tears fill your vision as you cling to the body, and you laugh harder than you have in a while now.

 

  

 

"Thank you. Oh my fu6k thank you so mu6h." You blab to no one in particular over and over. Everyone who had been involved, thank you.

 

.

.

.

.

.

 

** >Quartet: Speculate.**

 

"==> do @you think @he learned @his lesson?"

 

"<== Maybe."

 

"it was still wu~rth it either way."

 

"=>> Oh most deFinitely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! The art is mine, and it's not one of my best work but hugs are awkward to draw for me atm orz
> 
> Any kudos and comments are greatly appreciated!!


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